150 Years of the Berea College Farm

"My wife, Phyllis, and I came to Berea College the fall of 1976 after I finished my enlistment in the US Army. Phyllis majored in education and I majored in agriculture. At that time Berea College had a non-organic farm with poultry (laying hens), cattle (cow/calf operation), and swine (market hogs), and a greenhouse operation. I remember as students judging cattle and hogs for feeding and breeding capacity. Dr. Noel Stephens would critique our judgment ratings that we gave. We also got instruction from Dr. Ed Hogg on how to determine if a laying hen was still laying. As part of our "farm" instruction we would castrate piglets, artificially inseminate cows, prune apple trees, propagate plants for the greenhouse, etc. In the classroom we learned basic animal nutrition and feeding, soil science, and farm management. The emphasis was on standard farming of the day. Organic gardening and farming was mentioned but on the Berea College Farm there was still reliance on commercial fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides."

"I came to Berea having been raised on a dairy farm, My father milked Holsteins for fifty years, so my knowledge base centered around producing milk. Also, our farm was all about the production of products to sell in order to make money. Along with milking, we raised tobacco, corn and hay. Being an Agricultural/Biology Major, I was afforded an opportunity to be on Berea College farm on numerous occasions, mostly through field trips in my courses. I had a number of memories, but two fond memories of learning on the farm stood out. First, Dr. Noel Stephens (the king ping pong player of the Agricultural Union) would load us up to go to the farm to judge beef cattle-something I had very little knowledge about. He and Bill Ballard would have a number of beef steers ready for us to judge. I learned so much as I watched him place the steers in different classes for us to see what good and bad steers look like. When we got back to the classroom, we analyzed the reasons for judging and what it takes to raise quality beef. Second, I took a Dr. Claude Gentry short-term course on conservation of our natural resources on the farm. This was the first time that sustainability was introduced to me. Our field trips to the farm were structured around conservation practices important for farmers to practice to ensure we have a productive farm. Erosion control, cover crops, maintaining soil fertility and organic farming was just a few areas we studied while on the farm. I quickly understood that back on our family farm, we needed to improve. Today, having retired from a career in education and administration, I am back on my family farm, raising Charlois beef cattle, sheep, swine, and undertaking all the sustainability practices I was introduced to at Berea College. Our college is so blessed to have a 500-acre farm for extensive learning to take place. It has been said, that the 'farm is not about the animals/crops but about the beliefs and values passed through generations, ensuring things are better for those yet to come. It's all about the legacy.' The resource of the college farm has been a major role player in providing our agriculture legacy."

"My favorite, of the few printable gems, about my 1960-64 years as an Ag major at Berea College was perhaps being the final inhabitant of the free dorm room "suite" in the end of the long since demolished, huge Dairy Barn with my fellow Ag man Paul Miller (deceased, I think). Paul and I moved in there as Sophomores after our Freshman year on Pearson II. Our stay, which was private and isolated but roomy and adequate, was too frequently interrupted by bawling calves, bellowing bulls and a host of other dairy farm activities, such as filling silos, birthing and milking 110+ cows and the ever-present cleaning stalls. We thoroughly enjoyed our quarters, however because the Berea College Creamery, with its 24/7 supply of milk and cheeses, was appreciated and frequently utilized, especially after midnight! I was later accepted into the Berea College Fire Department and served there until graduation, along with my brother Doug, also an Ag Major, who was Fire Chief. I have literally hundreds of other very fond memories of brilliant and outstanding classmates, professors and farm workers as they, collectively, guided all of us through such activities as castrating and birthing pigs, lambs and calves, grading and candling of eggs and slaughtering turkeys to baling hay, planting corn and filling silos to picking strawberries, beans, tomatoes and more. As I reminisce, it remains amusing to me as to the constant but small number of usually non-farm students who would drop out of their initial major and choose Agriculture, perhaps thinking it would be easier to shine with a bunch of "Ole Farm Boys" in the classroom. I don't recall any of these making it more than a semester!! I very fondly remember the total commitment of my Ag Professors to my success: Drs. Noel Stephens, Pat Shugars, Claude Gentry and Bob Johnstone come to mind and many more including farm manager Bill Ballard, Sam Wheeler and others. Each of them, and all of them, and Berea College, have my eternal THANKS!"

"My first year, I worked in the Animal Nutrition Lab and Poultry farm. We had 12,000 laying hens at the Poultry farm. We had to feed, water, collect eggs, wash eggs and deliver eggs. We had a delivery route to many of the local stores, including Boone Tavern all the way to Richmond. Local people could stop by the farm during the day and purchase eggs with cracks in the shell $1.00 for 3 dozen. The egg carton included Berea College Eggs (Laid by Education Hens). The final 3 years I worked on the Beef cattle and Hog farm. We had 2 herds of cows bred and a 12 sow farrowing house. We also raised tobacco, hay, and corn. My senior year I was the student farm manager under Bill Ballard, our full-time manager. We filled 2 silos with corn, which we fed by hand during the winter 7 days per week. We bred, fed, delivered and sent to market many hogs. The work was never done. The Agriculture Department was questioned by the college several time regarding the many extended hours we worked on the farm."

"I worked the summer of 1963 on the Berea College Farms. This was before I-75 split some of the farms. I mainly remember loading hay. I worked on the wagons using my experience on our home farm 35 miles away, stacking the bales in a manner in which they never fell. Overlapping the bales enabled them to be "tied on" so well that gravity helped them stay in place perfectly. I also worked a semester at the Creamery helping the pipe-lined milk to be processed within minutes of leaving the cows. I remember well a true story about a full time tenured farm employee being fired. He was drilling (planting) grain. When a student did not arrive to fill the drill, the employee got upset and just "planted" the field without grain. He was fired for his lapse in judgment. Professors were Wheeler, Stephens, Gentry, Shugars, and Dr. Johnstone during my time at Berea College. Our Horticulture class under Dr. Shugars planted new shrubs on all of the front (south) entrance to the Berea College Agriculture Building in about 1964 or 1963. These may have been removed and replaced, but seemingly had not about 5 years ago. Also a water trough in the vicinity of the Agriculture Building was often used to dump newly engaged men or other such celebrations."

"I arrived at Berea in the spring of 1953 from Taipei, Taiwan, and enrolled in the junior class at the college. I was a city person, never lived or worked at a farm. But my first labor assignment was at the poultry farm, because I was an Ag major. I observed how chickens were raised commercially. I learned how to sort chicks by sex, broilers and pullets. It was necessary to debeak chickens so that they do not injure each other when they were confined indoors. Mr. Scott, the foreman, taught me how to operate a tractor. That was an exciting new experience. The next assignment was to work at track farm. I learned how asparagus was grown. In sub-tropical Taiwan, we did not have asparagus. The last assignment was to the creamery. They taught me how to make cottage cheese. Initially I could not imagine how people like such a bland tasting food. But I developed the taste for that later. After Berea, I went to Michigan State and graduated with a PH.D in Agricultural Economics. My work, after Berea and Michigan State, did not relate to farming or agriculture in general. Eventually I became a real estate developer in the Los Angeles area and built a number of apartments and condominiums. After more than half a century, I still retain fond memories of working at the Berea farm."

"While enrolled at Berea College during the Fall Semester of 1954 through the Spring Semester of 1958, I majored in Agricultural Education. During this period of time, my labor duties were performed on the Dairy and Poultry Farms, and in the Biology Department. While working on the Dairy Farm, I learned how to use milking machines to milk the cows, and how to perform artificial insemination of dairy cows. At the Poultry Farm, I learned how to feed and collect eggs from caged layers, and how to feed chicks being grown for broliers and turkeys being produced for the annual Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. In addition, during the Thanksgiving Holidays, I learned how to slaughter and dress the turkeys for sale in the Berea Area market. One of my first memorable lessons at the Dairy Farm was to appear for work on time. I was on the early morning milk crew; duties began at about 4:00 AM and were finished no later than 6:30 AM. During early October of 1954, I overslept. My dorm room was in the Williams Building. My early morning milk colleagues came to my dorm room, and awoke me and several others. They took me to the Dairy Barn, where they threw me into the Horse Trough. Over the next three semesters, while working there, I was never late again."

"A high school teacher recommended Berea College to me, and I was fortunate to get the opportunity to attend. I entered Berea College the fall of 1973 and was assigned the poultry farm as my labor position. I enjoyed the walk there each day with other students and made friends quickly. Jarvis Scott, the farm manager, encouraged and motivated us by providing a ride back to campus if we arrived on time and completed the daily work thoroughly. My sophomore year, I applied to the beef and hog farm. Bill Ballard, the farm manager, was quick to challenge our progress by increasing our responsibilities. If we showed promise he allowed us to drive the farm tractors in the labor day parade. At that time each labor department made floats representing their departments and it was quite a thrill to drive the decorated tractor and floats through the city. My junior and senior years, I located a unique challenge off campus working with Save the Children Federation at their Pilot Knob farmers market. Carroll Parker, the farm manager, had several local farmers growing fruits and vegetables to supplement their farm income. They would bring their produce to the market and we would sell their products to the community. The four years in various Berea College farm labor positions provided me with valuable experiences that would enhance my value and marketability to employers. Upon graduation, I found immediate employment. In summary, Berea College provided me an opportunity as an under resourced freshman. Berea College Farms expanded my growth with labor assignments and evaluations that provided me a solid foundation for success."

"Truthfully, I did not work on any Berea College Farm. However, I learned from Berea College all the requirements for the B.S. Degree in Agriculture and met them. Then, I worked on Dean Derrickson Agricultural Complex at Morehead State University specifically in poultry and crop productions. My work experiences at Dean Derrickson Agricultural Complex at Morehead State University were complemented by my academic preparations at Berea College. Following my graduations from Morehead State University in 1984, I came back to Berea College and was employed by Dr. Bill Best to help him grow some tomatoes for Berea College Upward Bound Program and I gladly met that challenge. That work experience was not my student labor assignment at Berea College. My primary student labor assignments at Berea College were in the Hutchens Library (Circulation Department) and in Broomcroft (Broommaking). My secondary labor assignment was in Danforth Residence Hall (Student Services). I am very proud of Berea College and mostly grateful to all who have helped me along the way."

"Working in the Creamery 1948-49, The Creamery was located at the foot of the hill near the dairy barn. It was managed by Axel Dorf. In addition to bottling milk for the Grade A dairy, Grade B milk was suitable for manufacturing into other dairy products and was collected from the countryside. I participated in making cheese and ice cream. Making cheese had its adventurous side. As I recall it, a metal vat 3'x5'x12' was filled with Grade B milk, warmed, and then coagulated with Renet. I wore hip boots, waded in the vat and put the curd through a machine that produced finger-like curd. This went into cheese-cloth-lined containers which pressed the whey out of the curd. This product went into a cooler and later sold to other manufacturers for aging and processing. Another product manufactured less frequently was ice cream. Step one in cleaning the ice cream maker was running skim milk through it which produced a great abundance of milkshakes to the delight of the staff."

"Coming from the mountains of North Caroline's in the fall of 1951, I had no idea of what to expect, what living in a dorm would be like, what living with complete strangers would be like, what was the appropriate dress code, or what real studying would be like. Just knew I was going to major in agriculture and was expected to work 10 hours each week. Reaching my 10 hours labor requirement was no problem since I was assigned to the early morning milk crew at the college dairy, which was a minimum 18-20 hours required. White buck shoes were appropriate in high school. I purchased a new pair to wear to college. As I stated, my first day of classes included a vegetable gardening class. We just were seated for class and professor Robert Shepard introduced himself and announced we were going to the college garden to dig potatoes. Needless to say my white bucks turned to a splotchy dark gray, which became their permanent color. My years at Berea College, my classmates, college farm activities, outstanding professors and administration, and Boone Cottage dorm mates are memories you appreciate and don't forget."